The Vampyres of The Soul...DEXTER, SHSs, SBGs, and sociopathic killers...

If you haven't read my first post on Dexter, you should before you read this...

The last two episodes of Dexter were a little unsatisfying for me...kind of like a fifteen to twenty minute quickie...if that's all you have time for, you make it work, but...you should never settle for that if you have more time...and it should never be the staple of your diet...

The relationship that they developed between Dexter and Miguel was too well done to cut off so abruptly. The story arc easily could have carried for another season, at the very least. Perhaps they couldn't get Jimmy Smits to commit for more episodes...I don't know.

The exposition in the last episode was clumsy as well...Miguel's brother covering for Miguel's weaknesses all these years? If that's what they were striving for, IE Dexter=Buono and Miguel=Bianchi, then allow them to work it...besides, Bianchi never challenged Buono openly...in a two-set, the weaker killer may resent the stronger...but he/she never crosses them directly...
Dexter unaware of who is really following him, IE not checking the intersection photo? The Dexter's of the world don't conveniently get preoccupied with weddings to the point of distraction to their lives...it would have been truer to his character for Dexter to have known who was after him...allow himself to be captured...know the MO of his captor...and play that to get him...always the hunter...still...I enjoy the show.

I became interested in sociopaths, and what makes them what they are, over thirty years ago...long before I was a cop. There was, at that time, little public knowledge about sociopaths...most of the information I found was in scientific texts and research papers. It took very little time for me to realize that the doctors; the psychiatrists and psychologists, really didn't understand what they were dealing with. You'll never truly get to know the mind of a sociopath in clinical studies...they're too good at what they do. You have to live with one...experience the dizzy, rabbit hole insanity of it...and live to tell the story...and I did.

The similarities between fictional vampires and sociopaths are striking. First and foremost: never ever forget...they cast no reflection of their own. They have no soul...Sociopaths learn, usually at a very early age, that they are different...that to survive, they can never reveal what they really think...feel...want...desire. They learn to mimic...especially emotions. One fault with Dexter is hinting that he doesn't understand love...but might be able to in the right circumstances. Sociopaths understand love all to well...unfortunately for their victims, the only person a sociopath is capable of loving is them self. Parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends...are only characters in the play...and the play has one, and only one star. All of these people that we have relationships with...that we think about, have hopes for...dreams for...don't exist for a sociopath unless they are with them...when they aren't, it's as if they have gone off stage...and whatever they do there only matters as it pertains to the main character...the sociopath. They are the ONLY star in the play. Period.

I don't know if there is a truer, more consuming love, than the one a sociopath has for them self...I guess that's why I cringe when I hear the buzz word crap..."You just need to learn to love yourself..." We all love ourselves...it's our first love...but hopefully, as we mature, we learn to love others...especially above ourselves. A sociopath never will...can't...there is only one love for them...only one.

Secondly...sociopaths are NOT products of their environment...they are the product of will...their own will...and if you plan on fighting them on that level, your will cannot simply match theirs...it has to be stronger...or you will lose...

Third...they are creatures of isolation...now, that doesn't mean hermits or loners...they have what others consider to be relationships...friends...but they are only playing a part...people like them...think they are really great...but when pressed, really don't know very much about them beyond the barest surface information...sociopaths are storytellers...the more stories you have to tell, the more there is to trip you up...they keep it simple...perfunctory...but friendly...

Fourth...they are charming chameleons...that ability to reflect allows them to hide behind the hopes and dreams that others project toward them...

Fifth...they are always searching for a Renfield...an enabler that can go out into society and do the things for them they are not capable of on their own...

I just re-read this...not going the way I wanted...too technical...I know what it needs...I'm going to have to tell some stories...about my Vampyre...and the other Vampyres I've known and hunted...then tie them to the Bundy's, Downs, Buonos, Bianchis, Smiths and Anthonys...and I can't do it...not yet...

I'll try again soon...I need to put up another part of TWO DOGS tomorrow...this will have to wait for its conclusion...just remember...

This type of Vampyre is real...they are around you every day...the things they do are so unbelievable...if you come across one, and you try and tell people what's happened, they won't believe you...they'll think you're making it up...you'd have an easier time telling them you were abducted by aliens...or attacked by a sanguinary vampire...than this kind of Vampyre...because no one wants to believe that there are really monsters out there...monsters with no heart...no soul...monsters that prey on the innocent...who feel no remorse...no pity...no sympathy...and are incapable of empathy...even toward their own children...

But they're real...and next time, I'll show them to you...

Dexter

Short post tonight...the pain is so bad right now...feels like someone filled all of my veins with gasoline and set them on fire...
My wife and I love to watch movies and TV shows together...we only have a few shows we really like, and we look forward to them every week...Dexter is one of them...
If you like "Dexter", have you ever asked yourself why? The guy's a sociopathic serial killer...ever met or known one? I have...Angelo Buonoa and Ken Bianchi were both at LA County Main Jail in the early eighties when I worked there...I personally got to tell Buono the State was picking up his case when he thought he was going to walk...but that's a story for another post...
Buono looked and acted like evil incarnate...colder than ice...666 and Devil's head tattoo on his forearm...Bianchi was handsome...charming...articulate...a number of the female deputies and civilian employees had crushes on him...but he was just as evil...you should hear the audio of one of their victims begging for her life as she's being killed...I did...you'd never forget it...I know, because I can't...
So...why do people like Dexter? And, why do I?
I think, for most people, it allows them the vicarious thrill of watching the truly evil and unrepentant receive the only punishment that is just...death...painful, fearful, horrifying death...just like what they forced their own victims to go through...deep down inside, everyone has people they know, or know of, that they truly believe deserve such justice...but they know they could never carry it out...so, Dexter is, I believe, a cathartic release for the average person...
I'm different...I enjoy it in spite of the BS psychobabble..."I kill because I was traumatized when I was little..." That, and the whole, "I abuse because I was abused" are two of the biggest crocks of shit(I warned you my vernacular would slip when the pain was bad) I've ever heard...if you don't believe that shrinks are some of the easiest people to fool, I challenge you to go back and read about the Hillside Strangler case...in particular, Bianchi's manipulation of the "medical professionals".
No, I like it for my own reasons...most of which I won't share...what I will share is this... Michael C. Hall is brilliant...the look in his eyes when sizing up his prey...the sense he conveys that prepping them is foreplay...the near orgasmic release when he collects his sample...and then, the final rush...
Have you ever seen fear in someone's eyes? Real fear...life and death fear...you can sense it...smell it...its like a drug...
The Ultimate Narcotic is Power...The Ultimate Power is Life...and Death...
The truest thing in Dexter is that he looks even more normal than those around him...he blends...did you ever wonder how many "Dexters" there are? How many you might meet in the course of your life...remember, they don't really have a "code"...
Try not to think about that as you drift off to sleep...